Midday Roundup: U.S. releases spy in alleged concession prize to Israel

Released. Convicted spy Jonathan Pollard was released on parole today after 30 years in federal prison for passing U.S. secrets to Israel. Pollard asked to return to Israel, where his wife lives, in exchange for giving up his American citizenship. The Obama administration denied his request, saying he must live here for five years as a condition of his parole. The White House denies accusations that it allowed Pollard’s release to appease Israel, which is frustrated with the deal the U.S. and allies made with Iran over its nuclear program last summer.

Innocent bystander. An 18-year-old American tourist is one of five people murdered in two separate terrorist attacks in Israel. The young man was killed when a Palestinian driver opened fire on a line of cars stuck in traffic, killing the young man, an Israeli, and a Palestinian. The motorist then rammed his vehicle into a group of pedestrians as soldiers shot him. They eventually took the wounded attacker into custody. A few hours earlier, a knife-wielding Palestinian man attacked worshippers gathered for midday prayers at a Tel Aviv office building. That assailant tried to force his way through a closed shop door after stabbing the first victim, but was apprehended by civilians, who struck him on the head with a metal pipe. The two attacks are the latest in a two-month wave of violence by Palestinians in Israel that has claimed the lives of nearly 100 people.

Raid results. Police confirmed a third person died in the raid that killed Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the main suspect in the Paris terror attacks. Abaaoud died in a shootout with police at an apartment where he was hiding. Two others died, including suicide bomber Hasna Aitboulahcen and the as-yet-unidentified third person. Authorities found Abaaoud through Aitboulahcen, a woman they knew was associated with him and whom they were already investigating on drug charges. As a result of raids over the last five days, police in France have searched almost 800 premises, questioned and detained hundreds of people, and recovered 174 weapons, including assault rifles and other guns, Reuters reported.

Headed home. More Mexican immigrants are leaving the United States than entering, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. Since 2009, more than 1 million Mexicans have returned to their native country, and the U.S. has experienced a net loss of 140,000 Mexican immigrants living here. Pew suggested the Great Recession and stricter enforcement of immigration laws made the U.S. less attractive to people living in Mexico. Most of the immigrants who returned went voluntarily, saying they wanted to reunite with their families.

Luggage lag. Some 2,000 contract baggage handlers at seven major airports in the U.S. continued their strike yesterday. The workers are demanding a $15-per-hour minimum wage and the right to unionize, although they work for subcontractors and not directly for the airlines. Several airlines say they’ve taken steps to minimize the strike’s impact on airline passengers as the nation heads into one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

Lingering effects. A new case of Ebola has emerged in Liberia, which was declared free of the virus this summer. The case shows the difficulty in eradicating the disease that killed thousands of people in West Africa in the most recent outbreak. The latest patient is a 10-year-old boy who had no known contact with any other infected people. His entire family is being treated in an Ebola unit in Paynesville, Liberia.

WORLD Radio’s Paul Butler and Jim Henry contributed to this report.